Biden Regime Response to Hurricane ‘Non-Existent,’ Turning Back on Americans – Lawmaker
Sputnik – 06.10.2024
WASHINGTON – US Congressman Paul Gosar told Sputnik that the Biden administration’s response to hurricane recovery efforts in the United States appears non-existent and a result of mismanaging funds.
Hurricane Helene severely impacted several US states, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, killing more than 200 people to date, media reported.
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned on Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does not have enough funds to make it through the rest of the current hurricane season.
“Disgraceful does not describe what is taking place in these storm-torn areas of our country,” Gosar said in a statement on Friday. “The federal response has been non-existent. By diverting billions of FEMA disaster funds to welcome and accommodate the illegals who continue to pour across our southern border, Border Czar Kamala Harris has turned her back on Americans in their greatest time of need.”
Congressman Matt Gaetz in a letter to Mayorkas on Friday said that his office has been in contact with whistleblowers in numerous emergency-management functions at the federal, state, and local levels who warn about critical mismanagement issues in FEMA.
According to Gaetz, FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left emergency responders without deployment orders on the ground in North Carolina. Gaetz also claims that FEMA withheld pre-disaster aid and that non-governmental organizations have used FEMA funds to purchase airline tickets for migrants.
The White House has rejected claims that FEMA disaster funds were used on migrants.
President Joe Biden has called on Congress to approve an emergency supplemental as soon as possible, but lawmakers won’t reconvene for votes until November 12.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Congress is not expected to approve emergency funding for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts until after the US election.
Biden said he might have to ask Congress for additional relief funding before the end of his presidency in January because of the high financial costs he anticipates will soar as they assess the damage caused by the storm.
BBC interview with Hamas deputy chief is a case study in state propaganda
By Jonathan Cook | October 4, 2024
The BBC no longer bothers to hide the fact that its news service acts as nothing more than the British state’s willing propaganda channel.
Last night on the News at Ten, Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen secured a rare interview with Hamas’s deputy political chief, Khalil al-Hayya.
Anchor Clive Myrie introduced the segment by warning: “Many will find his comments abhorrent.” But the only person making abhorrent assertions was Myrie himself, observing that, in the interview, the Hamas leader “claims the Palestinian people have faced violence at the hands of Israel for several decades”.
No, Clive. The world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, as well as every major human rights organisation, has concluded that Israel’s belligerent military occupation of the Palestinians’ territory is illegal and violent – not as a claim, but as an indisputable fact.
Israel’s refusal to recognise a Palestinian state and allow Palestinians self-determination; Israel’s building of hundreds of illegal settlements on Palestinian land and the transfer of Israeli Jews, often militia groups, into those settlements; Israel’s 17-year siege of Gaza; and Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinian people to force them to submit to these indignities, are all forms of structural violence. Again, that is not a claim. It is how international law judges what Israel has done and is doing.
Next, Myrie required Bowen to justify at length why the BBC was allowing a Hamas political leader – not a military leader – to be given air time. Note, al-Hayya’s boss, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated by Israel while he was involved in negotiations to bring about a ceasefire. Like some kind of gangster, Israel murdered the man on the other side of the table it was supposed to be talking to.
The BBC provided none of that as context, of course, for its interview. It was too busy placating Israel and the British government by issuing apologies and warnings before it offered a rare insight into Hamas’ side of the story.
So what did al-Hayya say that was so “abhorrent”? Here are the main points al-Hayya raised in the interview – you can listen to his precise wording via this link – under Bowen’s mainly hostile questioning:
1. Hamas launched its attack on October 7 because the world had forgotten about Gaza even as Israel was slowly strangling the tiny territory to death through its 17-year siege. Hamas wanted to put Gaza back on the international community’s radar, and had decided it could do so only through military action.
2. Hamas fighters had been told not to target Israeli civilians on October 7, only Israeli occupation soldiers. Hamas does not endorse harming civilians. However, there were failings by individuals in sticking to that plan.
3. Israel, not Hamas, is the party responsible for destroying Gaza as evidenced through its bombardments of schools, shelters and hospitals. Hamas’ killing of 1,200 people could not be used to justify Israel killing more than 50,000 people in Gaza. Israel is “motivated by the lust to destroy”.
4. The accusation that Hamas uses the people of Gaza as “human shields” is not true. “They [Israel] destroyed mosques on the heads of their owners when there were no fighters. They destroyed houses and high-rise buildings when no one was in them… It is all Israeli propaganda.”
5. Netanyahu is the one obstructing a ceasefire. Even if Hamas surrendered today, Gaza’s next generation would take up the struggle because the Palestinian people want their freedom and have a legitimate right to resist the occupation. “People need to understand that Israel wants to burn the whole region.”
6. The Palestinians need a state and self-determination, and the Palestinian refugees a right to return to their homeland, if the region is ever to calm down.
7. It is Israel trying to eliminate the Palestinian people, not the Palestinians destroying Israel. “Give us our rights, give us a fully sovereign Palestinian state… Israel does not recognise a one-state solution or a two-state solution. Israel rejects it all.”
8. [Responding to a question about whether he considers himself a terrorist] “I’m seeking freedom and defending my people. To the occupation, we are all terrorists – the leaders, the women and the children. You heard what Israeli leaders called us: we are all animals.”
Now, one can debate whether al-Hayya’s statements are accurate or truthful, or whether he is being sincere. But nothing at all he says here can be viewed as “abhorrent” – unless you are shilling for Israel. He deplores attacks on civilians, he accuses Israel of bringing about Gaza’s destruction, he blames Netanyahu for blocking a ceasefire, and he appears to be ready to settle for a two-state solution, though he doesn’t believe Israel will agree to it.
In fact, his comments are far, far more moderate and far less inflammatory than statements regularly made by Netanyahu and most of the Israeli political and military leadership. Netanyahu, remember, is being sought by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, while the country he leads is on trial for what its sister court, the ICJ, considers a “plausible genocide” Netanyahu has incited and overseen. Not that the BBC ever mentions either fact.
And yet the state broadcaster never prefaces remarks from Netanyahu or other Israeli leaders – such as the self-declared fascist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich – with any kind of warning, let alone one that many viewers may find their remarks “abhorrent”.
And while we are at it, if al-Hayya’s remarks are the yardstick, how was Keir Starmer’s comment that Israel had a right to deprive Palestinian civilians of food, water and fuel – that is, to collectively punish them by starving them to death – not also deemed “abhorrent” by the BBC?
What becomes ever harder to deny is that the BBC isn’t reporting what is happening in the Middle East. It is aggressively framing it in such a way as to present Israel as the victim of events, and thereby assist it in carrying out a genocide in Gaza and beginning a second slaughter in Lebanon.
‘Crimes beyond comprehension’: US doctors recount horrors of Israeli war on Gaza
Press TV – October 5, 2024
A group of 99 American physicians, who volunteered to work in Gaza, rejected Israeli allegations of military activity in the territory’s hospitals, calling on the Biden administration to immediately halt all military, economic, and diplomatic support for the Tel Aviv regime.
In a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the volunteers, who collectively dedicated 254 weeks to Gaza’s healthcare facilities, recounted dire humanitarian conditions amid ongoing Israeli offensives, describing their experiences as witnessing “crimes beyond comprehension.”
“We wish to be absolutely clear: not once did any of us see any type of Palestinian military activity in any of Gaza’s hospitals or other healthcare facilities,” they stated in the letter.
Previously, Hamas had dismissed Israeli claims regarding the al-Shifa hospital, once the largest medical facility in Gaza.
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, stated that the Israeli allegations that the Gaza-based resistance group is using the hospital for military purposes lack credibility.
The physicians called attention to Israel’s systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, stating that their colleagues were targeted with “torture, disappearance, and murder” in the besieged area.
The letter detailed the suffering faced by Gazan women and children in hospitals, highlighting severe malnutrition and a critical shortage of medical supplies.
The doctors referenced a July study from the medical journal Lancet that said the death toll in Gaza has already surpassed 118,000, marking more than 5% of its population.
“Every day I saw babies die. They had been born healthy. Their mothers were so malnourished that they could not breastfeed, and we lacked formula or clean water to feed them, so they starved,” Asma Taha, a pediatric nurse practitioner, recounted.
“Gaza was the first time I held a baby’s brains in my hand. The first of many,” Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic and hand surgeon, reflected in the letter.
The doctors condemned “Israel’s continued, repeated” displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, particularly children, into areas devoid of basic necessities like water and sanitation, calling it “absolutely shocking.”
“It is impossible that such widespread shooting of young children throughout Gaza, sustained over the course of an entire year, is accidental or unknown to the highest Israeli civilian and military authorities,” they said.
The doctors urged the Biden administration to support an international arms embargo on Israel until a permanent ceasefire is established.
They also requested a meeting with Biden and Harris to discuss their observations and advocate for a fundamental shift in American policy regarding West Asia.
Additionally, the signatories reiterated their earlier calls from their July 25 letter, including reopening the Rafah crossing to allow humanitarian aid, including water and medical supplies, into Gaza.
“Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets,” they said.
Israel has killed at least 41,825 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since October 2023.
The Israeli war machine ignited its genocidal campaign by targeting helpless Palestinians trapped in the coastal territory.
It was after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas conducted surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against the Palestinians.
Ireland rejects Israeli request to withdraw peacekeepers from Lebanon border
Palestinian Information Center – October 5, 2024
DUBLIN – Ireland has rejected an Israeli request asking it to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from an outpost along the Lebanon-Israel border.
According to The Irish Times, the request was made on Friday through the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and came as Israel continued to pound Lebanon.
Ireland and UNIFIL has made it clear that the peacekeeping force will remain in place despite Israeli threats.
Ireland has a single outpost designated as post “6-52” on the border, known as the Blue Line. It is one of the several countries contributing troops to UNIFIL.
The Irish platoon stationed at the post is tasked with observing and reporting any incursions along the border.
Recently, the Israeli army made several failed attempts to invade southern Lebanon, amid ongoing aerial and artillery attacks that killed and injured hundreds of people.
Iran to destroy all Israel gas fields, power plants at once if Tel Aviv makes mistake: Deputy IRGC chief
Press TV – October 4, 2024
Iran will simultaneously destroy all of Israel’s energy facilities if the regime attempts any new aggression against Iran, warns IRGC’s deputy-in-command.
General Ali Fadavi told the Lebanese television channel Al-Mayadeen on Friday that the Israeli regime will risk its existence if it attacks Iran.
“If the occupying entity makes a mistake, we will target all its energy resources, power plants, refineries, and gas fields.”
He pointed out that Iran is a large and vast country with many economic centers, while Israel has only three power stations and several refineries.
“We can strike them all at once,” the general asserted.
Iran launched Operation True Promise II late Tuesday in response to the Israeli assassination of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in April and also the assassination of late Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah along with Iranian military advisor, Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan in September.
Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel during that operation, saying 90 percent of them hit their targets.
The Israeli regime has vowed to respond to that attack, with some Zionist officials calling for attacks on Iran’s nuclear energy sites, oil fields, and other scientific and economic infrastructure.
Iran has warned to attack the regime’s infrastructure if it wants to respond to the Iranian retaliation.
‘Israel to receive a devastating response’
Meantime, commander of the Iranian Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi told Al-Mayadeen on Friday that the Israeli regime would receive a “severe and devastating response” if it engaged in uncalculated actions.
“We have exercised restraint and patience in the past, but we are ready to deliver a precise and destructive blow at the right time,” he said.
He noted that Iran would respond more forcefully than the level of aggression shown by its enemies if they made a mistake at any level.
West Asian crisis prompts Biden to break ice with Putin
By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | Indian Punchline | October 5, 2024
The US president Joe Biden sprang a surprise during a press gaggle with reporters outside the White House on Thursday when he essentially didn’t rule out a potential meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the upcoming summits of the Group of 20 or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Biden sort of signalled, ‘Barkis is willing.’ As he put it, “I doubt that Putin will show up.”
As these White House gaggles generally go, Biden deliberately chose to respond to the TASS correspondent who asked the question, who of course knew that Biden knew that a trip by Putin to the Western Hemisphere to attend the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18-19 is under active consideration in the Kremlin.
Biden and Putin have a lot to talk about but what adds up is that Biden signalled his interest in a conversation just a day after the massive Iranian missile strike against Israel, which came as a bolt from the blue and dramatically upended the legacy of his presidency.
Don’t be surprised if the Middle East crisis dominates a Biden-Putin summit in Rio de Janeiro — that is, if such a meeting takes place. The Ukraine war is coasting inexorably toward a Russian victory. Biden’s interest lies in making sure somehow that Ukraine’s capitulation — and NATO’s humiliation — get carried over to January 20. But Putin must cooperate. This is one thing.
Meanwhile, what causes sleepless nights for Biden is the situation in the Middle East, which may cascade uncontrollably toward a regional war. Here, Putin is not the problem but can be the solution. This needs some explaining.
To be sure, policy differences have arisen between Biden and Netanyahu which is only to be expected given their sense of priorities respectively as politicians. It may seem the current crisis in the US-Israeli relationship is rather severe but how much of it is for the optics or, how little of it is for real is the moot point. Certainly, even a transition from war to a new diplomatic order is currently not in the cards.
However, the US and Israel are also joined at the hips. There is no question that Biden is allowing seamless assistance to flow to Israel in its war effort and for keeping its economy afloat. And the US is blocking all moves in the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire, which means that peacemaking efforts cannot even begin.
Iran’s missile attack on Israel, in this context, needs to be put in perspective. Rather than an act of belligerence, it can be seen as a coercive measure to force Israel to abandon its ground operation in Lebanon. President Masoud Pezeshkian has disclosed that Iran exercised utmost restraint so far to stop Israeli atrocities only because of pleas by Western leaders that negotiations leading to a potential ceasefire in Gaza were at a crucial stage. But the West didn’t keep its promise leaving Iran no option but to act.
Passivity or inaction in the face of Israel’s relentless rampage against the Palestinian population aimed at ethnic cleansing created a distressing situation for Iran as the saviour of oppressed Muslims. Besides, Iran’s entire strategy of deterrence came under challenge too.
Biden is today like a cat on a hot tin roof. A Middle Eastern war is the last thing he wants. But he has no control over Netanyahu who is already plotting the next move on the escalation ladder. As for Iran, its sense of exasperation over western perfidy and moral bankruptcy is palpable. The US’ credibility has suffered a severe beating all across the West Asian region.
Enter Putin. On the Middle Eastern chessboard, Russia’s role assumes great importance. Russia-Iran relations touch an unprecedented level today. Russian statements have become highly critical of Israel in recent years. Russia has openly kept contacts with the groups constituting the Axis of Resistance.
Russian diplomacy is moving with a ‘big picture’ in mind to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the centre stage of international politics. In the past year, security consultations between Moscow and Tehran notably intensified. Some reports have appeared about Russia transferring advanced military equipment to strengthen Iran’s air defence capabilities.
Significantly, Russia was the only country that Iran informed in advance about its missile strike against Israel. According to the well-known US podcast Judge Napolitano: Judging Freedom (below), the Russian naval fleet in the East Mediterranean downed 13 Israeli missiles last week near Lebanon.
Apparently, a frantic Netanyahu has been trying to reach Putin on phone for the past few days but the call is yet to materialise. On the diplomatic track too, Russia has underscored the highest importance it attaches to the relations with Iran.
Clearly, the US senses the imperative to engage with Russia. What may be acceptable can be proportional strikes by the two West Asian protagonists, couched in carefully calibrated media campaigns. For example, targeted attacks on individual military installations, which would save face for Israel and avoid a major war — it’s a preferable scenario for Iran too, because it avoids unnecessary risks and preserves the trump cards for a game that promises to be long drawn out.
In the final analysis, what matters is the US-Israeli intentions. The Financial Times cited Israeli sources to the effect that the game plan is to inflict maximum damage to Iran’s economy so as to trigger the latent ‘protest potential’ of Iranian society. The Israeli hope is apparently that a credible regime change agenda will find resonance in Washington and attract US intervention.
Anyway, Biden’s move to engage with Putin suggests that a US military intervention is to be ruled out. On the other hand, the historic Russian—Iranian security pact, which is expected to be signed during the forthcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 20-22, gives Iran vastly more strategic depth to negotiate with the West.
Russia’s own interest lies in boosting Iran’s defence capability and pressing ahead with broad-based bilateral cooperation anchored on the economic agenda in the conditions under sanctions while on a parallel track advancing Iran’s integration into Moscow’s Greater Eurasia project. In short, Russia is uniquely placed today as a stakeholder in a stable and predictable Iran at peace with itself and the region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow Thursday, “We are in the closest contact with Iran on the current situation. We share a wonderful experience of cooperation in various fields. I think this is the moment when our relations are particularly important.” By the way, President Pezeshkian received the visiting Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin on Monday, September 30 in Tehran just hours ahead of the launch of the Iranian ballistic missiles against Israel.
At a meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to West Asian developments, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated on Wednesday, “As part of its mandate to maintain international peace and security, the UN Security Council must compel Israel to immediately cease hostilities. You and I also should make every effort to create conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement. In this context, we take note of Tehran’s signal that it is not willing to whip up confrontation any further.”
Interestingly, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lost no time to pick up the threads of Biden’s remark on a meeting with Putin. He said on Friday, “There have been no talks on this issue and as of today, at this moment, there are no prerequisites for it. However, the president has repeatedly stated that he remained open for all contacts.”
Israel says Iran’s attack on its air bases failed because it didn’t kill any civilians
Killing civilians is Israel’s measure of success
Laura and Normal Island News | October 4, 2024
Now that Israel has assessed the damage, it has announced that Iran’s missile attack was an embarrassing failure, despite what you might have seen on social media. Please let me explain:
The nation that created a generation of orphans measures success in terms of how many civilians you kill, and Iran killed an embarrassing zero. Israel, on the other hand, kills an average of 35 civilians per bomb, which is yet another reason why the IDF is the world’s most moral army.
The IRGC explained it targeted military infrastructure in order to comply with international law, so we’re pretending it didn’t hit anything significant. All those videos you saw on the internet were imaginary. Therefore, you are under strict instruction to memory hole them, otherwise you will be deemed a thought criminal.
We can’t have people dwelling on the truth for too long, otherwise they might notice the absurd contradictions, and this would be embarrassing for the empire.
Iran’s hypersonic missiles cut through the iron dome like it was a piece of wet toilet paper, hitting several of Israel’s air force bases, or as Prime Minister Starmer calls them, civilian targets. Thankfully, Israel didn’t harm any civilians because those missiles missed, and… oh bollocks, we’re getting ourselves in a horrible mess here, aren’t we?
Terrorist lovers say the Nevatim air base was struck 32 times and its stock of 36 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets was wiped out, but Israel is not saying anything. Worryingly, these are among the best fighter jets in the world and they could be gone, just like that. Don’t panic though, Israel got revenge by blowing up a hospital and an orphanage in Lebanon. It then wiped out another tent city in Gaza for good measure. This is how self-defence works.
Despite its setback, which definitely never happened, Israel explained that in a war with Iran, it would win by killing the most civilians. An Iranian spokesperson said: “We don’t want to kill your civilians, we just want you to stop doing genocide and accept a two-state solution”. Iran is such a fucking loser.
As much as Iran is weak and pathetic, it’s also a terrifying monster that leaves Israelis living in fear and might one day conquer the world… No, this is not a massive contradiction, shut up! We are only two weeks away from Iran having a nuke, just like we have been for the past 20 years.
Obviously, it would be terrible for the country that has not invaded anyone for 300 years to have a nuke. But if the country that bombs five countries in a day has a vast arsenal of nukes, that is totally fine.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has reassured us that war with Iran would be brilliant for the Middle East. The man who said invading Iraq would be brilliant for the region is famously never wrong. Thankfully, the US has reluctantly agreed to fight Israel’s war instead of doing healthcare. Obviously, the UK will do whatever the US tells it to because we don’t have our own foreign policy. No wonder Netanyahu strutted into the war room today and said: “Looks like I’m not going to jail after all, lads”.
Just know that when war kicks off, Israel is not going to fight because it can’t face a handful of Hezbollah militants in the desert without running away. Some IDF soldiers have been taken out of action by bee stings, for god’s sake. Therefore, I’m excited to reveal that you will be fighting for Israel! What do you mean, you’re 47 and have arthritis? If 60-year-olds can fight for Ukraine, I’m pretty sure 47 year olds can fight for Israel. Stop being so lazy!
When the iron dome runs out, Israel is gonna need an awful lot of meat shields, and let’s be honest, that’s all you’re good for! Please stop murmuring about your reservations. If you don’t support war with Iran, you must hate the Iranian women we’re about to blow up, you fascist!
Israel has done everything it can for those Iranian women because it has a proud track record of protecting civilians. For example, the civilian casualty rate in Gaza is only 90%. We can extrapolate this from the number of dead children so please don’t question my figures.
Israel’s careful strategy was “de-escalation through escalation”, but disgracefully, Iran responded with unprovoked violence. The IRGC launched a military response to reduce Israel’s ability to further escalate. Just who do these people think they are? Thankfully, Israel is planning a massive attack on Iran’s oil facilities which would cause an environmental catastrophe. I’m old enough to remember when we condemned Saddam Hussein for this sort of behaviour, but let’s not talk about that…
President Biden said he’s unfortunately powerless to stop Israel, so instead, he’s helping them plan the attack and he’s supplying the bombs. The fact an oil attack would significantly impact the Chinese economy definitely did not factor into the equation.
Just know that if Iran responds to a strike on non-military infrastructure with a strike on military infrastructure, this would count as terrorism. Are you keeping up here? No? Don’t worry, that’s the point of propaganda!
You’re not supposed to understand why our politicians do Israel’s bidding, but Boris Johnson let slip Netanyahu once hid a wiretap in his bathroom. You can imagine all the embarrassing shit Johnson was getting up to, can’t you? Now imagine how many other leaders Netanyahu has wiretapped. Imagine how easy it would be to send that information to their wives. No wonder the ones who are funded by AIPAC do as they’re told. You can’t beat the carrot and stick approach, can you?
US vice presidential candidate Tim Walz said he considers the “expansion of Israel” to be a “fundamental necessity” and he’s a moderate. I’m just relieved we’re openly talking about this now because it makes my life so much easier. (I have a horrible habit of accidentally letting the truth slip out.)
You would think Israel’s scheme of bribery and blackmail means World War III would be a walk in the park, but sadly, our puppets in the Middle East have thrown a spanner in the works. Crushing Iran might not be as straightforward as we had hoped…
Outrageously, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait will not allow the US to use their airbases because they’re worried about siding with the loser. Plus, ending the influence of the country that subjugates the region would be a massive win for them. It’s gonna be so awkward if they switch sides, isn’t it?
You might think this is unlikely because historically, Saudi Arabia and Iran have not been friends, but the Saudi foreign minister is telling Iran he wants to “permanently close the chapter on our differences.” This is fucking terrifying if you’re an imperialist.
Iran has the ability to destroy the lightly-guarded US bases in Iraq and Syria, and its submarines have the ability to sink ships that get too close. Just know that when the empire incurs heavy losses, it will all be worth it.
The horrible alternative is that Biden stops arming Israel and forces it to accept peace. And peace doesn’t bear thinking about, does it?
‘Biggest West Bank massacre in decades’: Israel bombs crowded Tulkarem café
(Photo credit: AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)
The Cradle | October 4, 2024
Israel bombed a café in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem late on 3 October, killing at least 20 in what is being described as the worst massacre in the territory since the Second Intifada.
Among those killed were a woman, her husband, and their child.
A Quds Brigades commander, Ghaith Radwan, and a member of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades, Zahi al-Aoufi, were killed in the indiscriminate attack on Tulkarem.
“In the attack, a number of key operatives who were also active in the terrorist infrastructure in Tulkarem were eliminated,” the Israeli army and Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement.
Aoufi was reportedly the head of Hamas’ organization structure in Tulkarem. “He provided weapons to terrorist operatives in the area and planned to carry out numerous attacks on settlements in the West Bank and deep inside Israel,” according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
Israeli warplanes fired at least one missile at the café in Tulkarem’s Hamam neighborhood on Thursday night as it was packed with civilians, according to WAFA news agency’s correspondent.
Civil defense teams and ambulances immediately rushed to transport the casualties to the city’s Thabet Thabet Government Hospital.
WAFA news agency referred to it as the biggest massacre in the occupied West Bank in over 24 years.
The Israeli army launched a massive operation against several West Bank cities on 28 August. The camps of the West Bank witnessed numerous military incursions, indiscriminate airstrikes and massacres, and assassinations.
Abu Shujaa, the late commander of the Quds Brigades’ Tulkarem branch, was assassinated by Israel on 29 August.
The latest massacre in Tulkarem comes as Israel continues its brutal assault across Lebanon, which has killed around 2,000 and displaced over a million.
Hours before the attack, the US State Department warned that Israeli escalation in Lebanon could lead to a tense situation in the occupied West Bank.
Hezbollah death traps, attacks on supply lines deal heavy blows to Israeli army
The Cradle | October 4, 2024
Heavy fighting continued in southern Lebanon on 3 October, as Hezbollah fighters fiercely confronted the Israeli army’s incursions into the country’s territory and inflicted casualties among its ranks.
Israeli forces were struck with rockets on the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Odaisseh on Thursday afternoon, one of the towns where troops fell into a bloody ambush just a day earlier.
A Hezbollah guided-missile attack also hit a Merkava tank in the Natoa settlement not long before.
“When an Israeli enemy infantry force attempted to infiltrate towards the cemetery of the town of Yaroun, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance detonated a Sejil explosive device at the advancing force at 12:00 noon on Thursday 10-3-2024, killing and wounding them,” Hezbollah said earlier, marking its 21st statement on 3 October.
Hezbollah announced shortly before that its fighters “detonated an explosive device at 12:00 noon on Thursday 10-3-2024 with a force from the Golani Brigade in the Tartira area in the town of Maroun al-Ras, which was trying to bypass the western side of the town.”
The members of the Golani Brigade force were killed or wounded, the Hezbollah statement added.
“Since dawn on Thursday, the Islamic Resistance fighters have been confronting all attempts by the elite forces of the Israeli enemy army to advance on more than one axis in southern Lebanon with various types of weapons and explosive devices, inflicting heavy losses on them in terms of equipment and personnel,” Hezbollah field sources told Al Manar on 3 October.
The sources added that the fighters continue to prevent any Israeli advance in southern Lebanon with pre-prepared ambushes. They also explained that Hezbollah also continued targeting supply lines and troop gatherings in several Israeli bases and sites along the border.
“The Islamic Resistance fighters targeted on Thursday 10-3-2024 a gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the Avivim settlement with a rocket salvo,” the Lebanese resistance announced.
It also fired rockets at troops in the Al-Bassa settlement and launched a Falaq rocket at Israeli positions in the Shomera settlement, as well as at the Sasa settlement.
Earlier on Thursday, Hezbollah detonated two explosive devices near an infantry force trying to enter the town of Maroun al-Ras.
Tel Aviv has so far admitted to the deaths of eight of its soldiers in southern Lebanon. It claims to have killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives.
A Hezbollah field source told Al Mayadeen on 2 October that more than 80 Israeli soldiers and officers are between dead and wounded, adding that the Lebanese resistance has destroyed five Merkava tanks.
“What is coming is more painful for the enemy,” the field source said.
An Israeli M113 remote control army vehicle was abandoned inside the border village Kfar Kila on Thursday. Hezbollah has forced troops to retreat several times during the incursions that the Israeli army has been attempting to carry out since Wednesday morning.
Israel has meanwhile continued to bombard south Lebanon heavily and issued evacuation orders to residents in over two dozen villages.
Two Lebanese army soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon on 3 October, including one who was helping coordinate an evacuation of civilians with the Red Cross.
With 100 flights, Starmer pursues Sunak’s policy of spying on Gaza
Al Mayadeen | October 3, 2024
The British Labour administration has ordered 100 surveillance flights over Gaza to help “Israel’, Declassified UK reported. Since Keir Starmer took over on July 5, there has been an average of more than one daily flight.
Despite halting 30 arms export licenses for “Israel” last month, alleging “a clear risk” that the weapons would be used in a “serious violation” of international law, the espionage flights have continued unabated.
Although the Ministry of Defense (MoD) declined to provide information, Declassified independently discovered planes departing from Akrotiri, Britain’s massive airbase on Cyprus, to fly over Gaza under Starmer’s supervision.
In August, the Labour Party’s first month in power, the Royal Air Force (RAF) performed 42 missions over Gaza.
Pro-Palestine and anti-war demonstrators took to the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force Akrotiri Airbase in Cyprus to denounce the UK’s implicit backing of the Israeli violations and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.
On Monday evening, Starmer dispatched a massive A400M military cargo jet from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv. The jet can transport 116 fully equipped soldiers and 81,600-pounds of cargo.
Again on Tuesday evening, the UK sent Typhoon fighters from Cyprus to defend “Israel” from Iranian rockets.
Surveillance alleged to be for captive rescue ops
The UK planes are thought to have captured up to 500 hours of film of Gaza, carried out by the Shadow R1, an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft.
Earlier this month, Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin, a former British army officer who fought in Afghanistan, questioned the military if “UK intelligence is passed to Israel for the purposes of military targeting.”
Labour’s armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, reacted, stating the surveillance planes were “solely tasked to support hostage rescue.”
In addition, an Israeli insider told The New York Times that a covert British espionage team was sent to “Israel” early in its operation on Gaza.
The UK team “adds value” to its intelligence activities, he said, adding that Britain provides intelligence that “Israel can collect on its own.” There is no proof that the new Labour administration brought this surveillance crew back from “Israel”.
The surveillance flights began immediately after Labour gained control, with 11 flights in its first week in power.
Despite no flights taking off between September 10 to 17 following Labour’s suspension of some weaponry transfers to”Israel”, they quickly continued.
Over the last week, more than one plane has flown over Gaza for almost five hours every day from Cyprus.
After Labour seized control in July, 23 British planes flew over Gaza, followed by 42 in August and 33 in September. An additional two flights took off on Tuesday, October 1.
According to a representative for the Ministry of Defense, the UK’s focus is to release captives only.
“Our mandate is narrowly defined to focus on securing the release of the hostages only, including British nationals, with the RAF routinely conducting unarmed flights since December 2023 for this sole purpose.”
In a discussion immediately following the announcement, five different MPs questioned Conservative defense secretary Grant Shapps if he would share footage from the planes with the ICC if it revealed evidence of war crimes. He always delivered evasive answers.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense stated last week that “in line with our international obligations, we would consider any formal request from the International Criminal Court to provide information relating to investigations into war crimes.”
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From the Archives
Guatemala: A Test Tube of Repression
By Robert Parry | Consortium News | October 3, 2010
Last week’s grotesque revelation about American public health doctors infecting nearly 700 Guatemalans with venereal disease to test penicillin from 1946-48 marked just the start of the U.S. government’s post-World War II abuse of that Central American country.
Indeed, as troubling as the VD experiments were, U.S. administrations from Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan would do much worse, treating Guatemala as a test tube for Cold War counterinsurgency experiments that led to the slaughter of some 200,000 people, including genocide against Mayan Indian tribes. … continue
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